Download American Express business card statements (PDF) and convert to Excel

American Express business credit card statements are commonly provided as PDFs to accountants when clients can't or won't share account access. These statements require special handling for reconciliation.

Download an American Express PDF statement

1. Log in to American Express Business (if you have access) or request PDF from client.
2. Navigate to Statements & Activity.
3. Select the card account and statement period.
4. Download the monthly PDF statement.
5. Ensure the PDF includes purchases, payments, refunds, fees, and interest charges.

Convert to Excel for reconciliation

• Upload the PDF to StatementScribe for extraction.
• Amex statements have unique transaction types—payments are credits (negative), purchases are debits (positive).
• Export to Excel with columns: date, description, amount, balance, transaction type, merchant category.

Common challenges

• Credit card statements require different handling than bank statements.
• Payments may not match original purchase dates or reference numbers.
• Fees (annual fees, late fees, foreign transaction fees) may appear separately.
• Interest charges may compound daily and appear on statement end date.

Tips for accountants

• PDF statements are the standard format for Amex business cards when clients can't provide account access.
• Request monthly PDF statements directly from clients or via secure portal.
• Separate purchases, payments, refunds, and fees into different categories in your Excel reconciliation.
• Keep original PDFs as audit evidence for expense categorization and tax reporting.